Labor shaken and stirred

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A year late, the reshuffle of state cabinet was done in classic
Steve Bracks style, from the unexpected announcement that caught
all his colleagues off guard to his totally unconvincing claim that
the idea only occurred to him during his Christmas holidays.

The final decision on the exact timing of the shake-up was
certainly made during the break, but, like most of his colleagues,
the Premier has known for months that, sooner or later, he had to
bite the bullet and get on with it. When Bracks finally moved, he
did it with clinical detachment, forewarning three people, Deputy
Premier John Thwaites and two senior advisers, who were briefed the
night before.

On Monday, he simply told the first session of his cabinet that
he was planning a reshuffle, details of which he would outline to
those involved at the end of the meeting. Startled ministers then
proceeded with the day's business in what must have been a
distracted atmosphere.

The decision to delay the inevitable appears to have been
largely driven by Mr Bracks' dogged determination to be seen acting
independently of media and Opposition pressure. But the assertion
that the idea first dawned on him during free time over summer is
patently implausible.

This is the reshuffle he should have implemented 12 months ago,
when there was still some chance of depicting the changes as a new
start. Now, a year late, the limited changes are a clear admission
of failure in the crucial Police, Planning and Major Projects
portfolios, without the benefit of fresh backbench blood.

A full-scale rearrangement of his team, involving some of his
talented but impatient young backbenchers may have justified
Bracks' claim he was "freshening-up" his ministry.

But, as one disappointed MP said, this reshuffle was so limited
it actually underlined the biggest problem areas, winning limited
points for recognising mistakes and correcting them.

The assertion that the idea dawned on him during free time over summer is patently implausible."

Despite playing an important role when in opposition, winning
the confidence of the police union and, subsequently, a good share
of the law and order vote,Haermeyer had become an accident-prone
liability. Demoting him wasn't easy for Bracks, who owed Haermeyer
a big debt for delivering him the MP numbers he needed to roll John
Brumby as opposition leader.

A year ago, Bracks may have just have got away with selling the
move as a new start; now it is clearly a dumping. In the junior
ministry of Small Business, Haermeyer will be working under strict
limits set by Brumby and Treasury.

The new Police Minister, Tim Holding, 32, is a rising star but
comes into the job at a difficult time, and under a lot of
pressure.

The former Planning minister, Mary Delahunty, has been under
fire for even longer than Haermeyer. After being moved out of
Education, she has managed to enrage developers and
conservationists. Her successor, Rob Hulls, now has a huge task
freeing up the planning backlogs and convincing the developers that
this is a pro-business government, while at the same time winning
back the support of the Save our Suburbs movement.

Although Hulls has the strength of personality to slash the red
tape, with his other responsibilities as Attorney-General and
Industrial Relations Minister he may now have too much to do.

Some colleagues say Hulls, rather than the talented but
low-profile Finance Minister John Lenders, should have taken over
Major Projects, which has become a political disaster zone under
the overworked former minister, Peter Batchelor.

Massive delays and budget blowouts have damaged Labor and some
MPs think Hulls' salesmanship and crash-through style are needed to
break through the bureaucratic paralysis and undo the perception of
government inertia.

One theme clearly emerging from the shake-up is the continuing
dominance of the big four- Bracks, Thwaites, Brumby and Hulls.

With his direct control over the Finance Ministry, and therefore
Major Projects, Treasurer Brumby is now more powerful than
ever.